PITTSBURGH -- Matt Olson homered for the fifth time in his past seven games and Jim Jarvis homered for the first time in his career. These long balls, combined with Mike Yastrzemski's ninth-inning grand slam, overcame the three homers Bryce Elder surrendered in the Braves’ 10-5 win over the Pirates on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.
With a pair of victories in this three-game set, the Braves claimed just their second series win since sweeping the Pirates (June 5-7) in Atlanta. They have won just nine of their past 26 games, but four of those victories have come within their past seven games.
Here are a few thoughts as Atlanta prepares to end the regular-season’s first half with a three-game series in St. Louis.
Regaining power
When Olson recently said he likely wouldn’t participate in Monday’s T-Mobile Home Run Derby, he was reminded the event is at Citizens Bank Park, where he has hit 15 homers in 139 career at-bats. Olson, who tied Dale Murphy for the most consecutive games played by a Brave at 740 on Thursday, didn’t budge from his stance. But he has spent the past week producing a nice home run display.
Olson’s Statcast-projected 404-foot homer off Mitch Keller in the first inning was his 25th of the season and fifth within a span of 26 at-bats going back to Saturday’s two-homer game against the Mets. That multihomer performance ended his 16-game homerless drought.
Olson’s power skid coincided with the Braves hitting just 14 home runs while losing 14 of 19 games from June 9-July 2. They have homered 16 times while winning four of their past seven.
“You can't just claim that things are back to the way they were, but it's a good step forward,” Yastrzemski said. “I think we're regaining our confidence, knowing we're never out of a game.”
Jarvis’ first home run came in what was his 21st career at-bat. The two-run shot off Keller in the fourth inning will provide a lifetime memory for the slick-fielding shortstop, who has never hit more than six home runs during a Minor League season.
“It's just something you dream about,” Jarvis said. “Honestly, I’m not a power hitter. So it's kind of shocking it happened this early. But I mean, it was an unreal amount of fun running around the bases.”
Yastrzemski’s shot off Dennis Santana was his third career grand slam.
Baby steps
Elder surrendered three homers and was charged with four runs over four innings. This wasn’t great. But it could be regarded as an improvement when you consider he had allowed at least six earned runs in each of his previous three starts.
Bryan Reynolds homered off an elevated slider in the third, and Esmerlyn Valdez followed by hitting a knee-high slider over the left-field wall. Jake Mangum’s two-run homer in the fourth came against an inside cutter.
Valdez’s home run was the only of these three homers to be hit from the right side of the plate.
Left-handed hitters batted .135 with three homers and a .452 OPS against Elder, while he posted a 1.97 ERA through his first 11 starts this year. Right-handed hitters batted .283 with a .697 OPS against him during this same span.
So, he neutralized left-handed batters enough to be successful during this stretch. But they have hit .360 with six homers and a .945 OPS, while he has posted a 8.47 ERA over his past seven starts.
“I know it wasn’t pretty, but I thought it was significantly better than the last three starts,” Elder said. “I don’t know if I’m trying to be too positive or what. But I’ll take it and run with it.”
Group effort
With Elder lasting just four innings, the Braves needed the strong showing they received from four relievers. Dylan Dodd continued his recent success with a scoreless inning and JR Ritchie allowed just one run, despite issuing two more walks over 1 1/3 innings. Danny Young induced the nifty double play Jarvis turned after Ritchie exited with one on and one out in the seventh.
James Karinchak looks like he could be a valuable piece during the second half. He provided a scoreless eighth just before Yastrzemski erased the need for Raisel Iglesias to pitch the ninth.